Blood Temptation
by Changer the Elder
Summary: X-Men are used to other creatures being out for their blood. But when that creature's one of their own and takes those words a bit too literally, noone can be sure with the situation. Because it's easy to deal a blow to the enemy. But how about a friend?
1. The Feast

**Blood Temptation**

~Changer the Elder~

**Summary:** X-Men are used to other creatures being out for their blood. But when that creature's one of their own and takes those words a bit too literally, noone can be sure with the situation. Because it is easy to deal a blow to the enemy. But to cause harm to someone they know and care about is next to impossible.

_Italics_ marks foreign language

_'Italics'_ marks a thought

_**'Bold Italics'**_ marks telepathic communication

* * *

**Part I. – The Feast**

**Author's Note**: _Some of my most favourite comic book storylines are the Mutant X series and the Uncanny X-Men Dracula two-parter. I've been always tempted to write something similar, so I finally did. _

The Xavier Institute was still and silent, even though noone would expect anything else in this late hour. Those who'd be by any accident awake right now would have seen dim currents of light blue flame against the seemingly black skies.

Blackbird in her steelblue elegance descended into the hangar and the soft sound of engines fell silent. The back ramp opened with the hiss of hydraulics and then, the jet stood still.

Iceman jumped the stairs with a wide yawn, followed by Wolverine, Jean, Colossus, Nightcrawler, Gambit and Rogue, Kitty, Cyclops and Storm.

"Guys, lemme tell you, if I hate anything 'bout this job, it's the night shift," Bobby said between the violent oxygenation of his body.

"You should have gone vork elsewhere. Like the Eis stores, zum example. You'd be highly appreciated there, I believe," Kurt smirked, though it was obvious he feels the same, or at least very similar. There was noone in the whole team who would sympatize with these late night parties. Except for maybe Wolverine didn't care, although it was him who usually complained the most.

Now he remained silent and kept his distance from he more talkative part of the X-Men. He stretched his shoulders to get rid of the stiffnes, fought back a yawn and looked up to the starry skies. Outside the view granted by the hangar skylight was the moon sinking slowly to the horizon, and his soft, fading light was reflected by the ground.

A few secconds later the basketball court closed again, leaving the space below to the artificial lighting. The group of mutants slowly continued on their journey to the elevator.

Wolverine stopped his pace when he noticed Storm is falling behind. She seemed to be withdrawn and, compared to her normal color, very pale for the whole time. His own curiosity made him remember the promise they gave each other back in Canada and go and ask what's wrong. _'She's an adult, grown an' sane, she knows what she's doin'. Not any o' my business,'_ he thought for himself and shrugged, as it could extinguish that tiny voice tapping on his adamantium skull. He merged with the "crowd", blankly answered some remarks and entered the lift. The door closed and the hangar fell into darkness.

xXx

Later that night (or more precisely, that early morning), Logan lied in his bed, teetering over that thin line between the dream and reality and reviewed last hours' events to himself. It was a routine action - the good guys were supposed to send the bad guy flying and the end, finito. He realized he doesn't even know what were the mutant's abilities, they were done with him a way too fast to notice. The maniac was given to the proper authorities and the whole thing was over, even though most of the team would like to take on him personally, especially after he bruised Storm and Iceman. Luckily for them (and for him as well), they were not severely harmed.

Just another ordinary mission, that will be a topic for a discussion for a while, then be slowly forgotten. Wolverine yawned for one last time and with the thoughts of what's about to come tomorrow, he fell asleep.

The old habit hardly allowed him the pleasure of a really deep sleep and today was no exception. That's why he woke up in the moment when the familiar scent touched his nostrils. He blinked in the dark.

"Storm? What... Summers raised another alarm or what's wrong?" he groaned and rubbed his sore eyes. In a split second, he was wide awake, when his teammate (or what he was used to think about that way) swiftly jumped on top of him, succesfuly digging her knees in his sides.

Wolverine gasped in surprise and before he had any time to react, he lost the chance to use his hands. A hard squeeze on his neck then robbed him of oxygen.

_'That ain't possible!'_ The man was swift to realize he can barely move. His brain didn't know how to cope with that information. She was strong, yes, but not more than him. And definitely not THIS much more.

She leaned closer and looked hime straight in the eye. Steel blue color of his eyes met with a strange blood red reflection and Logan shuddered. This cold, calculating stare was one of his qualities, but he would never expect to see it by her. And now he was damn sure he doesn't want to anymore. _'This can't be her...'_ But all of his senses told him the exact opposite.

She let go of his wrists and he still wasn't able to defend himself. He felt like drunk. At least... like a lot.

The female mutant grabbed his hair and mercilessly yanked his head to the side. He realized the sharp pain a few moments later, even though his body reacted immediately. He felt like his spine was hit by a lightning bolt. He dug his fingers into her back and made one last desperate attempt to pull away, which was the only defensive he had the strenght for, before he fell into the sweet darkness.

xXx

'I need coffee... lots and lots of coffee,' Scott thought and, even though he was awake for quite some time, it was the first conscious thought that fought it's way into his mind. For the whole ten minutes he tried to persuade himself about getting up from the bed, yawning in the end, he brushed through his chestnut hair and after one offended stare on his alarm clock he finally got up, trying to do that without waking up his fiancé (which was a task he refined himself in to perfection).

He put on his clothes, quite cranky about the fact the tiny stain from yestarday's dinner didn't make it's exit from the collar of his shirt overnight, and began his quest for the longed-for coffee.

He stopped just once, to clean his glasses and rub his tired eyes. It was just then when every single hair of his body stood up straight in terror. Right behind him, there was a... noise - such an alien, grisly noise, that he was able to swear just a second after it was just a figment of his imagination. Even so, he put his glasses back on and cautiously looked around the place. There was a thing in the life of an X-Man, which was weighted by diamonds - foresight.

Nothing. Not even a trace of anything, that could make such a noise - which could be probably descibed the best as the screeching of a bat amplified about a hundred times. But there was a complete, utter silence again. The team leader stood still for a while longer, then just shook his head in dismay and decided to continue his pursuit for coffee. But the noise kept him aware; hidden in the corner of his mind as a predator lurking for it's prey.

In spite of his habit, he wasn't one of the first on the breakfast on that day. Quite the contrary - he came among the last. He fetched himself a cup and the kettle, but unfortunately for him, both were empty. With a grumble, he set up a new kettle on.

He sat at the table and claimed one cheese toast, nibbling on it with a murder-like stare. Something still made him think about that strange noise he's heard before.

"HEY!" Jubilee hit him in the ribs.

"What?" he answered, half confused, half irritated from the sudden interruption.

"I asked if you've already seen Wolvie this morning?" the young mutant demanded to know the answer, since her first attempt was left ignored.

"Uhm... no," Cyclops said and kept nibbling on his toast.

"He might have overslept...? That does not look much like him," Kurt mused and took a bite of his marmelade pancake.

"Doesn't look like Stormy, either and see? She ain' 'ere, too," shrugged Gambit. The others stared at him in total surprise. "_Quoi?_" he asked, still not getting the reason for their schock. Then, he finally grasped the other meaning of his own answer, which ended in his own confused stare. "_Non_... you can't be thinkin' dem two..." he choked on his own breakfast in amusement just from that thought.

"We ain't thinking, sugar, we just think it seems... suspicious," Rogue put on an innocent face and took a pankake from her boyfriend's hands.

"Admit it, _mein Freund_, since they've come back from their _Ausflug_ to Canada, they seem to act quite unusual."

"They're not trying to kill, or even bruise each other!"

"Well, that's quite a shock."

Scott couldn't help but to stand by and watch what are the minds of his subordinates capable of when given the proper impulse. He was so consumed by the heated conversation about their new possible pair of turtledoves, that the first time he started to notice the reality again was the time when everyone fell silent. He looked up just to meet eye to eye with Wolverine standing at the door.

"An' who the hell's that girl I'm s'posed to be droolin' all over?" the newcomer asked with a suspicion and looked at one teammate at a time. The whole dining room was dead silent and everyone was suddenly deeply concerned about the wellbeing of their meals.

Logan just sighed and took the kettle of Scott's coffee, claiming it for himself. He poured himself a cup and sat on his place at the table, which was decorated with the claw-made carvings of unfinished game of Gomoku and something that might've originally been a wolf.

"You've got a morning cold?" asked Jean (who arrived somewhere in between the earlier debate) and meant the fact of Wolverine's choice of pretty unusual clothes - a warm wooly shirt with a high collar, quite tight around the neck, which was something he usually didn't dig out untill it really freezing. But Wolverine didn't answer any more but by a mere shrug. He didn't look too well, she realized; he was pale and seemed like he didn't sleep all night. "Are you allright?"

"Pretty much," was a silent answer as the mutant started reading today's newspaper.

Jean rolled her eyes. "Logan..."

"'S nothin', really, just... just a stupid dream or somethin'." It wasn't hard to guess he considers the whole thing over.

At the same time, the conspirators at the other end of the table decided to act. "I just vonder,"  
started Kurt, 'accidentaly' loud enough for everyone to hear, "where ist Ororo! She's usually wide avake this time of day..."

"'Ro's asleep, elf," Wolverine muttered without looking up from the newspaper.

The X-Men exchanged meaningful glances, some failing to cover their amusement even with the use of the meal.

"An' how would you know, _homme_?" Gambit insisted, with the support of his companions, ignoring Hank's attempt to indicate the health hazards to which asking Wolverine such a question usually led.

Wolverine simply rose, reached out over the table, grabbed the nagger by the collar and almost murdered him with something else than just a stare. "I just know. An' keep askin' like that an' Rogue will have to pick ye up, one piece atta time," he growled and for a while, the young Cajun felt like he really *did* mean *every* word he said. Logan then showed him back into his chair, finished the cup of coffee, confiscated the newspaper and left the dining room.

Remy put on a face of a poor innocent puppy.

"If I were on your place, which I will, fortunately, never take, I wouldn't come near that man for the nearest foreseeable future. Otherwise, I'm afraid he is about to rip your throat," Beast stated coldly.

"Ouchie..." Remy looked on his pancake with his own bite mark on it and suddenly felt a rush of sympathy towards the pastry.

xXx

The whole following day kept peaceful, lazy atmosphere. Outside, there was a thick fog crawling all around the mansion grounds, and most of the tutorials have been cancelled because of the late night mission. Neither Wolverine, nor Storm did show up the whole day.

The afternoon brought a strange weariness into the building, probably due to the gloomy weather conditions, and everyone wondered whether it has or has not some connection to Ororo's supposed ill-being. There were some, considered by others to be the most probable winners of a Darwin Award (which they didn't win only for having the luck in Logan's absence in the common quarters), who tried to name the possible reasons for her current state.

The murky evening slowly shifted into even more dismal twilight. Despite the early spring in the air, it was still almost freezing and the visibility shrank even more as the fog thickened. The sky was covered with a thick grey veil and embraced the whole Xavier Institute with a cursed-castle-like atmosphere.

Gambit spent the evening in his room, reading a book of the stories of New Orleans, which he fell on his head in the library last week. He was about a halfway through one extremely long vampire tale from the 18th century, when he started to feel extremely tired.

He tried talking himself into finishing at least this one, 'till he found out what a load of pages are still left to the end. With a deep sigh, he attached a Seven of Diamonds (which served as a bookmark) to the page, put the book back to the nightstand and turned off the lights, determined to find out whether the blood-addicted familly got slain in the end or not. As soon as tomorrow.

But just as he closed his eyes, a strange, unnerving feeling swept all over him; just like when there's someone trying to stare a hole in the nape of your neck.

He didn't move for a while, using all his other senses to determine the source of his stirness. He didn't hear a thing and he wasn't exactly sure if he really wants to know what is lurking in the dark. His sight, slowly adapting to the darkness, fell on the pack of cards on his nightstand and in that instant, he thanked the God for making him convince Rogue to play a game of Blackjack before he went to bed to read the book.

_'Now or never,'_ he thought for himself and jumped for the cards. He took one, charged it and then quickly span around, ready to stick it down the throat of any threat that would come to eat him alive.

And right then, he froze like a deer in the headlights, like the blood stood still in his body. The last thing he saw were blood red eyes and a faint glimpse of silvery hair.

xXx

_**'Scott, I need to speak with you, immediately. Come to my office, please.'**_

A sharp order resonating through his skull woke the team leader in an instant. He was already used to this kind of disturbances from the warm embrace of sleep (and Jean), so he didn't raise a question. Instead, he put his jeans on and headed for the headmaster's office, as quietly and quickly as possible, his experience and the sense of responsibility already sparking up the energy reserves of his body.

At the door, he missed his colleague by less than an inch - almost bumping into him. He didn't stop, he didn't react.

He hadn't seen anyone.

The X-Man smirked in satisfaction, showing the lenghted canines, and went exactly the other way. He entered the room and glanced over to the sleeping woman. The dim light of the few stars shining through the torn clouds was quite enough for him to see every detail.

The hunter once again closed in on his prey, as silent as a mere shadow on the moon at night. When the chance rose, he'd always preferred a safe kill to a long shot, but this time, his decision was different. He jumped on the footbard and woke his victim.

Jean blinked drowzily. She had no idea what roused her from her sleep, she just knew it felt odd. She rubbed her eyes and tried to see something in the darkness surrounding the room. There definitely was something present. Something had to wake her up.

"Over here, Jeannie..."

She turned to the voice but still didn't see anything but dark. Altough... yes, there definitely was some shadow in the way, even darker than the rest of the room. She reached out with her telepathy, but found nothing. She had a feeling that if there'd be a mouse in that corner, her mind-trace would have been as clear as a whistle compared to this.

Then she realized it was the voice of the creature that seemed to be familiar. As soon as she concentrated on that fact, it didn't take a fraction of a second to assign the voice to it's owner.

"Logan? Are you out there?"

She got one answer - a low, hostile laugh. Without noticing any movement around her, she felt a tremnedous weight to sink down on her.

At that moment, a pale full moon came through the clouds and revealed the Wolverine on the hunt. Taken by the shock, she reflexively tried to push him back with her TK, but he simply sneered at her. "These party trick don' work on me anymore, Red." His smirk grew even wider so the sharp teeth gleamed in the moonlight.

"What..." the female mutant started, but in that instant, she realized it's not Wolverine, who attacked her. At least not entirely. Wolverine certainly didn't have the eyes of the color of the fresh blood.

She wanted to defend herself, but just his gaze was enough to render her defenseless. She remembered a quote she used in her biology tutorial just about a week ago: _"An effective way to deal with predators is to taste terrible."_ Otherwise you risk that the jaws will snap your neck in a deadly clasp.

When that occured, she probably didn't even notice.

xXx

Scott finally arrived to his objective - the office of Professor X. He knocked on the door and entered without waiting for any further invitations. It was, after all, Charles, who summoned him, so he had to be expected.

Only there was a complete darkness in the office and the place at the desk was empty. The team leader scowled. Forgettery is one thing, but being completely oblivious to the fact you called someone to you was definitely not on the list. And Charles Xavier was far from both.

Cyclops granted himself a few seconds to locate the psychic link between him and the Professor and turned the lights on in the meantime. He was right - the office was cleaned up and empty, just like it was meant to be every evening after it's occupier resorted to sleep.

_**'Professor? Can you hear me?'**_

_**'... of course I can, Scott. What is the matter?'**_ Even his mental voice sounded quite sleepy, so it was not up to a genius to follow the equation from there on. Whoever called, it wasn't Xavier. Scott quickly turned the lights off and raced back to his room. He'd informed his mentor on the way and asked him to raise the rest of the team.

Cyclops arrived in what seemed a heartbeat. He flung the door open without even thinking of knocking first. "Jean?!" he shouted into the dark.

He didn't get any answer, even though the racket he made just by entering the room must have been enough to wake her. The moon disappeared in the clouds again and the room wasn't lit anymore. Cyclops reached for the switch, but the light bulb didn't even give it a try.

And then, he heard it again. That horrible sound which almost made him jump out of his skin that morning. Without any second thought he simply took off his glasses and shot an optic beam in that direction. It made contact - he could figure out that much from the angry growl and a blunt thump that followed. Something hit the wall.

Beast and Jubilee arrived to help him and the rest of the team was not far away as well. But it was the moon that once again proved it's strenght and uncovered the scene. In it's soft light, there were four dark figures facing the team - two men, two women.

Storm. Wolverine. Gambit. And Jean. Four mutants everyone in the room knew. Or at least, they thought they knew. Right now, they seemed to be demons instead of human beings.

It seemed so bizzare. X-Men just couldn't help but stare. They felt like they were trapped in some kind of a bad Dracula joke. The shock caught them short of the action. The more sensible members of the team caught the ferriferous scent of fresh blood.

Gambit growled and showed his own pair of fangs. That sound actually got their attention. Just in time, since the four just made their mind in the matter of the attack.

Scott shot one warning salvo just in front of them. It really did stop them. For a while. Iceman took the initiative and put an ice wall in their path. There was an uproar from the other side and the sound of fists colliding with the cold surface of the ice. Some of the bones did crack, but they didn't seem to notice - they actually seemed to regenerate those very quickly.

"What is the meaning of-" The authoritative voice of professor Xavier came through the hallway, but fell silent as soon as the man saw the scene. "My god..."

A nasty growl came from the other side of the barrier. The four knew that the arrival of Xavier shifted the balance of the battle dramatically to the other side. They shattered the window and, with the promise of a payback clear in their eyes, the children of the night turned around and jumped into it's cold embrace, leaving their teammates behind, shaken.

**To be continued...**


	2. Cats and Mice

**Blood Temptation**

~Changer the Elder~

**Summary:** X-Men are used to other creatures being out for their blood. But when that creature's one of their own and takes those words a bit too literally, noone can be sure with the situation. Because it is easy to deal a blow to the enemy. But to cause harm to someone they know and care about is next to impossible.

_Italics_ marks foreign language

_'Italics'_ marks a thought

_**'Bold Italics'**_ marks telepathic communication

* * *

**Part II. – Cats and Mice**

**Author's Note**: _This chapter was a pain. First, I lost my concept notes. Then I accidentally erased the whole fiction off my disc, so I had to start part II. all over again (so please, don't mention the weird interrogation trio - I originally sent someone else. I just don't remember who.). And then, I managed to soak all my handwritten pieces, so I had to decipher what the hell I wrote. But I finally managed to pull it through.  
I hope it doesn't have that much typos and language errors anymore ^^;  
... Yes. I kinda enjoyed being mean on Gambit *insert evil cackle*_

The team gathered at the rounded holo-map table. Thanks to the projectors being turned off, the whole scene looked more like a capture from the King Arthur than a tactical briefing. The results were of a similar nature - the only thing they managed to figure out was the fact that they have no damn idea of what's going on.

Cyclops shook his head. "No. There's no way I see any explanation for this thing."

Beast stopped rubbing his whiskers and shrugged. "Well, whenever we try to complete our gained knowledge in one picture, the effort is rather futile, since there are still many pieces missing."

"Allrigh, how about saying it in plain English, so even the dumbsters here understand?" Iceman inquired.

"Very well, I'll repeat it for you to understand," the blue lion smirked. "When the whole puzzle does not make sense, we should pay more attention to the pieces and we might see something that slipped our attention."

"Fine, but what do we know?" brought Kurt in the obvious question.

"You mean beside the fact that Logan & co. gone nuts and look like they just hopped out of a B-class movie? Nothing," Kitty stated.

Hank shook his mane. "_Au contraire_. Every reaction must be preceded by some sort of an action."

"Yes, Beast, but what kind of an 'action' are we looking for in here?" Cyclops asked.

The scientist took a deep breath and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "That, unfortunately, I cannot yet tell for sure."

xXx

There were four shadows slipping through the moonlit night. They were moving with the elegance of a hunter in pursuit and their unanimous focus was telling of the bond they shared; a bond so deep it created one single mind composed of four separate voices leading them on. It was like a distant call, working better than any sort of radar. The temptation of the fresh blood, calling for more.

From time to time, one of them stopped and examined the path ahead with all their senses. The blackness of the night was no problem for their eyes and the wind brought them all the secrets they desired to know.

They reached the easternmost part of the school grounds, where the rocks gave way to the softer pebble shore below. The waves went high up the cliffs and then collided, leaving a spray of water in the air, soaking both the stone and the four mutants. The cold of the dampened clothes meant very little to them. Even though they felt it, they simply ignored the fact. There was no reason why should such a thing attract their attention. All their existence, their whole minds were focused into a very narrow point of view - finding the next meal.

The beast that was bearing the name of Jean Grey mere hours ago gave out a displeased growl. The dawning would break soon. It was time to find a shelter and rest. One of them remembered the old observatory turned to ruins during a battle taking place at what seemed to be such a long time ago... and all of them headed that way without a word of agreement.

Their path was leading south, towards the dark embrace of the woods. The silhouette of the trees was an eerie sight for a mere mortal, a place where most would not dare to spend the night alone. Yet to them, it was a warm welcome, the desired refuge from the burning sunlight.

The voice of a lonely owl seemed to be counting down the minutes to the daybreak. And when the twilight finally gave in to the day, it left the Xavier Institute with the misgiving atmosphere.

xXx

"What are we doing here, anyway?" Iceman protested. Even despite his mutant powers, he felt a chill running down his spine. Every black ventail seemed to be hiding snake eyes.

"We're helping Wolvie and the others, genius," Jubilee withered him with a look and caught up with the pace of Beast leading the trio.

The corridor was marked by the two lines of heavily armed men and neither one of them liked the idea. Hank, at least, was acting like a bit of a standby for the two younger X-Men, for which they were both eternally grateful. He himself wasn't that lucky.

Every visit of the VOID was like that. The place itself reeked of despair. Beast remembered the short time he had to spend here, locked up for a crime he didn't commit, and the fur on his back bristled from the thought.

"That's fine and I really like the idea, but how the hell is this creep supposed to help?!" Bobby kept going on.

"It is the only link we have, Robert," the blue lion muttered and tried not to examine any of the surrounding men... hoping they really **are** men.

"Yeah, right, whatever," Iceman pouted and decided it will be the best for him to shut up for now.

"Doctor McCoy?" asked one of the guards suddenly, so the three almost jumped from the shock. The man stepped forward. His uniform and body armor didn't seem to differ from the rest with the exception of a yellow insignia on his helmet, shoulders and the left side of the chest plate.

Beast somehow managed to keep a poker face. "Yes, that would be me."

"Follow me." The voice was artificially distorted, just like the voices of everyone else in the complex. None of the X-Men ever wanted to find out whether that was the true reason for the lack of any emotion.

The lion gritted his teeth and followed the guardsman's lead. The steps of the four created a blunt echo in the metal corridors, occasionally drowned in the noise made by the choppers and doublehelix crafts that were landing and taking off the platforms on a regular basis. The VOID guard led them to one of the lifts in the northeastern cellblock. They entered and let the platform to pull them down into the belly of the beast.

The VOID was even gloomier inside than out. The fluorescents gave away a cold light and the air was filled with a bitter taste of metal. It seemed like eternity before the lift finally stopped and granted them entrance into the section B5.

The guard led them through the countless cells. Iceman decided to count them, anyway, just so he did have something to concentrate on. He counted to 72 when they finally stopped.

"Prisoner B571," the guard announced and Bobby corrected his little math exercise. "Vladislas Dargolja." Hank nodded and the armored man looked through the spy hole. Satisfied with what he saw in there, he opened the massive hydraulic door and let the three mutants in, standing himself in the doorway, a heavy stun rifle ready at hand in case the prisoner decided to press his luck.

The only inhabitant of the cell was a man with long dark hair and sharp brown eyes that seemed to show strange reddish highlights. What would otherwise be four days stubble was neatly trimmed into a beard that somehow fit his pale face. The inhibitor neckband was barely visible, hidden by the white collar of his shirt. Broad shoulders and his somewhat bear-like physique were in stark contrast with his nonchalant behavior and the pile of books piled up on the small table. He held an old and frequently used fascicle in his hand, with the red title on the black cover stylized into a blood mark. It read _"Drakula: The son of the Dragon - The true story of the vampire legend_".

Dargolja turned the page, finished a paragraph and stuck a bookmark to the book. He closed it and finally looked his visitors in the face. He smiled, but there was something wild and devious in that smile, no matter how honest it seemed to be. "Well, well. Long time no see. Welcome to my humble home."

Jubilee had to bite her tongue to keep herself from a sharp reply. Iceman's thoughts were of a similar nature.

So it was Beast who took the word. "Yes, a long time. We came here to ask you some questions, sir."

"Really." He didn't even bother to hide the irony in his voice. "I knew you will shoot first and ask later. A very clever approach, I must say. So make yourself like home, sit over there and ask! Or... what if I was the one asking instead? Like... how's your colleague? You know who I mean, right? That lovely lady with the silver hair... how's her appetite?"

Both younger mutants inhaled sharply and Hank gnashed his teeth. His tail gave away his thoughts, whisking lightly. "What have you done to her?" he asked in a low voice.

"Ah, bull's-eye." The prisoner's smirk grew wider and uncovered lengthened canines. "Maybe she even... 'convinced' someone to join the party?"

"What have you done to her?" Beast repeated, putting the accent on every word.

Dargolja bent forward and overlooked the large feline. "You're a scientist, am I correct? You're not making it very obvious... but those who know where to look can tell easily."

Jubilee clenched her fists and would have had one stuck down the man's throat if it weren't for Iceman stopping her.

"We didn't come to talk about me," the blue lion retorted when the other man made no effort to go on.

"Of course, of course. You came to talk about me." The prisoner was enjoying his upper hand in the conversation.

"What is your mutant power?"

Vladislas leaned back against the wall and his eyes gained the spark of amusement. "You're the science nerd. You tell me." He reached for the book again and opened the marked page. "The visitors are leaving, my dear captain."

The X-Men were taken by surprise when the soldier in the doorway nodded, stepped back and beckoned them to follow him.

"Very well," Hank said. "But you can be fairly certain this is not the last time we see each other."

"Yes. It would break my heart if it were." For the first time, it seemed like the irony disappeared from his voice. And neither of the three was sure it was a good thing.

xXx

The engines thundered as they came to life. The pilot skillfully guided the jet out of the small space and the Blackbird headed across the waves of Atlantic. Home.

Beast set up the course and leaned against his chair. Then he took off his glasses and rubbed the tired eyes, trying to sort out the scattered thoughts.

Iceman and Jubilee exchanged a glance. "I guess that didn't go very well, right?" the boy stated hesitantly, since he imagined his first lesson of data acquisition in quite a different light.

The blue lion smiled. "What gives you that impression, Robert?"

"Oh well... dunno... just..." he blurted out, thinking how to formulate his thought in a way that's understandable to the others.

Beast breathed on the glasses and pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket to clean them. "I admit the things didn't quite go as expected," he sighed and turned in the chair so he could face them, "yet we know what we needed to know. It is to be only a matter of time to find out the rest."

Both junior X-Men looked totally confused, checking if they didn't sleep through something important.

Hank put his glasses on his wide feline nose and his smile widened a bit. "We know it's him who is responsible. Now we only need Kitty to use her... let's call it creative computer skills." They weren't quite sure the team's hacker would take that as a compliment.

As soon as they understood what he meant, they both smiled in relief. The situation didn't look that bleak for their colleagues anymore.

xXx

Rogue took a deep breath. The alarm clock on her nightstand read 5:37 PM. Finally. She had no idea why she picked such a weird time; maybe because the whole last day was weird in and of itself. She needed to reassure herself she still had some control over the things around her, instead of being controlled by a series of unfortunate events.

But at most, she needed to rest for a moment. She hoped she will be able to forget the uneasy feeling that squeezed her insides, even if it were only for a minute. Either that or her head will explode. She just wrapped a towel around her shoulders and closed the door of her room. The Institute seemed to be empty, even though there was a curfew applying to everyone but the senior members of the X-Men. Most of the students just spent the evening in their rooms, usually staring at the wall. None of them was in the mood to do something. The atmosphere in the school seemed to be very similar to the silence before the storm. Rogue was quite happy when she reached the back door and went out into the April dusk.

The air was yet filled with the warmth radiating from the ground, but the colder breeze reminded that the nighttime is nearing.

The young woman followed the path through the back lawn towards the pool hidden in the provisory penthouse. She pushed the door aside and entered it. It was empty, the splashing water being the only sound. She quickly took on her long sleeved swimsuit.

But before she could jump in the water, she noticed a dark spot moving right beneath the surface. She immediately regretted she didn't switch the lights on. While she tried to see through the water, the spot stopped moving and started to grow. Rogue stepped back when she realized it's drawing near

Then a great force ripped through the water and sent splashes everywhere. Rogue yelped and almost fell right into the pool. She met the bright yellow eyes, which seemed to be a bit confused by the situation, nested in a lizard-like purple face. "Kreee?"

"Lockheed!" Anna breathed out in surprise. "Y' scared the hell outta me!"

The little dragon commented with an embarrassed "Oops" and headed for the pool's edge.

Anna couldn't help but smile a bit. The soaked, rueful creature was priceless to behold. "What are y' doin' here anyway?"

Lockheed squawked and waved his tail, in which he clasped the rubber squeaking toy dumbbell that used to have "20 TONS" written on it. Kurt gave it to him for Christmas, considering it a good prank to pull on the reptile, but the toy immediately became the most treasured piece of what the dragon could call a personal property. Except for Kitty, of course.

"Noone's payin' attention to you at the Institute, eh?"

"Yep," Lockheed nodded and squeezed the dumbbell between his teeth. The poor toy squeaked hysterically, as if to protest against that kind of abuse, and spattered some of the water it took in while in the pool. Lockheed then handed it over to Rogue.

She looked at him and couldn't say no. Try that when a purple beast you won't find in any of the biology books stares at you in a way that would put to shame a whole litter of puppies. So she simply took the dumbbell and threw it somewhere above the pool. The black rubber toy kept afloat for a while and then sank.

Lockheed jumped and disappeared under the water, making almost no ripples on the surface. Rogue shook her head. Lockheed always seemed to surprise everyone by how easily he dropped his dignity and intellect to fool around like a kid. A purple scaly kid. For a creature of such human-like capacities, it seemed remarkable.

A moment later, the dragon resurfaced, and with the dumbbell again safely in his grasp, he returned to Rogue.

She just sat down on the pool's edge and threw the toy away once more. And then again. And again... She had no idea how much time she spent like that. Lockheed's enthusiasm seemed to be exhaustless. And also very contagious. He played around with the rubber prey, hunting it, lurking it, evading it's 'attacks'. And having tons of fun. His wings and granted him the same agility as when airborne.

The dragon once more pretended to hunt the dumbbell, then finally caught it, ripped it's "throat" and surfaced again. He turned around to see where Rogue is and froze.

"What's the matter, little guy? Got y' tail stuck inna pipe?" the young woman laughed.

The yellow eyes grew wide with horror. "Watssch out!" he squawked.

Rogue understood. There was something mirrored on the water's surface. She tried to see what it was, but it was like trying to see a ghost. She turned around and gasped in shock.

"_Bon soir, chére_," Remy smirked and revealed the sharp teeth.

"God, no..." Rogue didn't even have the time to find the lost voice when her partner grappled her wrist. He was very careful not to touch her bare skin. Not yet.

"Remy, let go. Ah don' wanna hurt you," the female warned him and prayed her voice didn't sound as weak as she thought. She knew she wouldn't be able to defend herself. There was something in the red eyes that kept her paralyzed. They shone with a primal passion and hunger she never saw before.

Gambit pulled her close and with the triumphal grin of a feasting hunter, he bared her neck...

... without even thinking of the danger Lockheed meant for him. The dragon roared, lashed his tail and threw the rubber dumbbell right between the opponent's eyes, throwing the vampire totally out of balance. With his focus on the prey broken, Rogue could finally pull free and push him away, right in the pool.

Gambit reflexively tried reach out with his hand to grab anything in reach to stop his fall, but the only thing that was close enough was another hand. Rogue's bare hand. They both felt like they were hit by a lightning. When Anna managed to pull herself together and break the contact a moment later, it wasn't quite clear which one of them was paler in the face.

The young woman stumbled backwards and collapsed against a wall, while Lockheed took care of the current enemy of the state. Without letting him take a break, he flew right above his head and took a deep breath, unleashing it a second later in a mixture three times more flammable than the napalm.

Remy roared in pain, trapped in a fire vortex. Lockheed would have probably turned him into a crispy critter, if the vampire didn't get lucky and fall in the pool.

The dragon swallowed and after making sure the aggressor is out cold, he landed next to Rogue. She was trembling like a leaf in a middle of a tornado. "Kriiiarrr?"

The female mutant gritted her teeth which turned into fangs at that instant. "Lockheed... find... find others... bring 'em here... go... now!"

**To be continued...**

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**Sidenotes:**

* "One of them remembered the old observatory turned to ruins during a battle taking place at what seemed to be such a long time ago..." - That's a different story. Quite literally. It's a feedback for one of my oldest fanfics which ended with the X-Men fighting of a living constellation... quite a dreary subject, to be honest.

* The VOID - a mutant prison designed to hold back the deadliest of the species. Thought to be escape-proof, proven wrong by several who escaped.

* "Dargolja" (pronounced "darr-gohl-eea"... as creepy as it sounds) is an old Slavic name, remotely derived from several forms of the Slavic translation of "dragon".

**Thanks a ton for the tips and reviews for the last chapter! I hope I caught the grammar slips and typos, but if you find any, please, be so kind and kick me ;)**

**Oh, and of course - I hope you're enjoying the story so far!**


	3. Twisted Loyalties

**Blood Temptation**

~Changer the Elder~

**Summary:** X-Men are used to other creatures being out for their blood. But when that creature's one of their own and takes those words a bit too literally, noone can be sure with the situation. Because it is easy to deal a blow to the enemy. But to cause harm to someone they know and care about is next to impossible.

_Italics_ marks foreign language

_'Italics'_ marks a thought

_**'Bold Italics'**_ marks telepathic communication

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**Part I****II. – Twisted Loyalties**

**Author's Note**: _It took me ages to get this translated, I know! And it's not going to get much better for the next chapters, either (especially ch.5... it's so damn long!). But I hope that at least my language skills took turn for the better in the meantime._

Light. Not as bright as daylight, but it hurt anyway. Every breath he took left a dreary iron-like aftertaste, as if he were trying to breathe in a dust-filled room. Then he realized it wasn't the light that caused him pain - his skin itself felt like on fire.

Two inch leather straps were holding him down, but even if it weren't for them, he wouldn't be able to move. He was just too weak, too exhausted.

Too hungry.

xXx

"Here, drink this. Take it slow." Hank tried to smile and handed his colleague a cup of hot liquid.

Rogue nodded sternly and, clutching the cup with both her hands, tried to wrap herself even tighter in a blanket she had around her shoulders. She considered it nothing short of a miracle when she managed to swallow at least a bit of the strong coffee without choking.

Scott kept pacing around the office and as soon as Rogue put the mug back to her lap, he couldn't be stopped. "Anna, come on, what happened? Were there others with him? What about Jean?"

"Scott, please. Calm down a little," Hank attempted to talk some sense into his leader and put a reassuring paw on the trembling mutant's shoulder. Rogue just kept staring a hole in the carpet and played with the cup's handle. After a few seconds of silence which seemed like half a day to the nervous X-Man she said: "He was alone. Ah guess." Lockeed perched on the coffee table nodded and cooed in agreement.

Scott swallowed a curse and added another round to his pacing spree. He hoped that Professor X had a bit more success. The words of his mentor reached him at the same time as the sound of doors being opened. "I am sorry, Scott."

Charles Xavier rolled his wheelchair closer to others and shrugged in defeat. "I couldn't even penetrate his mind. To me, he's not much more legible than an animal."

"You mean you're having the same problem as with Wolverine?" Hank asked matter-of-factly.

The Professor shifted uncomfortably in his seat - this was one of the least-favored conversation topics. "Well... in a sense, yes..."

The men flinched when Rogue suddenly interrupted them. "No. It ain't." She sounded certain. "Logan's a beast. He follows his instincts, but it's still him down there." She looked up and met their eyes, hers now colored in an eerie mixture of crimson cutting through the usual emerald green. "He's all tooth and claw." Then, a sudden disgust twisted her features. "But that... thing... he's just.. mad. And hungry. Whatever that is, Remy... the real Remy ended up trampled by it."

She stood up and came over to the window, staring into the dark. "They know he's here." It wasn't hard to figure out who she was talking about.

"Wait, you mean you can..."

"I sense them," she answered the unfinished question and lowered the coffee level in her cup.

The men exchanged confused glances. "Do you know where they are?" Hank asked. She nodded slightly. The others waited a while, hoping she would elaborate. When she didn't do so, Scott grew impatient. "Well... and? Where are they?"

Anna emptied the cup and placed it on Xavier's desk. "Right here."

Before they could mull her words over and figure out what she meant, one of the windows was suddenly shattered by a ball lightning. The bright, raw energy blasted its way into the room, then disappeared without a trace. Two shadows followed it in, one red-haired, one with silvery-white mane. Their third figure kept more distance, staying seated in the singed window frame. At that moment, both table lamps let out a few sparks, their light wavering, and died. The only thing that shone brightly was the moon and two pairs of bright red eyes.

The X-Men instinctively huddled together and Lockheed let out an angry hiss. Just Rogue remained at the window.

"Jean..." Cyclops breathed out and subconsciously reached for his fianceé.

_**"Stop it right there, Scott!"**_ The telepathic warning was so sharp that it caused him to stagger.

_**"But Professor..."**_

_**"Do as I say!"**_

He didn't agree with the order, but he had no choice but to step down. For a moment, it seemed as if disappointment flashed through the faces of their former colleagues.

"Give him to us," the taller of the women growled sharply. It was quite obvious to whom is she referring.

"And we'll go," her window-seated partner added.

Beast felt half his fur bristling and he took a step aside so Scott wouldn't stand in his way if any action was necessary. He didn't like the way the redhead was eying their leader - like a beast ready to go for the blood.

"And if we won't?" the headmaster asked calmly and folded hands in his lap. All three vampires looked his way.

"Don't be stupid."

"We're grateful you've let him live."

"Don't make us go over your corpses."

"We'll do if we have to."

The X-Men were taken aback by the perfect sync between the three. They spoke and acted like one mind, one body. And they passed the threat over like something that came casually, as if it spoke of nothing else than getting rid of pests.

"Believe that, Professor. They're not gonna argue 'bout that," Rogue noted.

The only male among them jumped off his perch and stood by his companions' side. They awaited the answer with the patience known to all hunters on the prowl.

But Xavier just shook his head. "I can't meet with your demands."

The three just shrugged it off. "Then we have to kill you," the man announced without hesitation.

"You don't think we'll go without a fight, do you?" the blue lion snapped back, breaking his silence. The shock and anger in him fused together, creating a dangerous and in his case rather unstable combination. He couldn't believe what's become of his friends. They were his teammates, he was meeting them every morning during breakfast, he knew their strengths and best-kept weaknesses. But all of a sudden, he felt they're complete strangers to him. That feeling made his guts twist.

The beast that used to be Logan let out a low growl and met the other mutant's gaze. They stood like that for a while, exchanging glances, blood red meeting wild amber. Then, with the characteristic SNIKT, one of the adamantium claws appeared, dangerously close to the fur-covered jugular.

"And what d'you think's will stop us, eh?" the vampire asked. The tone of his voice suddenly sounded like the good old Wolverine Hank knew. But that was gone in a split second.

"I will. By any means necessary." It was a challenge, announced loud and clear.

The other man seemed to actually think about it. Then he smirked and retracted the claw. "Yeah. As if."

"They need him," Rogue said all of a sudden, her voice being barely more than a whisper. The converted X-Men cast her a withering look.

"How much do you know, you little leech?" the readhead spat angrily.

Rogue barely moved, just her eyes grew colder. "Look who's talkin'. Ah know enough for you to want to skin me alive."

_**"Rogue-"**_

_**"Whatever you want, Professor, save it. Ah hear them, they hear me."**_

Xavier backed down, but not before slightly probing the psychic barriers surrounding their collective consciousness.

"Why?" Hank asked. His voice and attire were now back under control but his tail, furiously swinging from side to side under the table, gave him away.

They turned to him and the hunger in their eyes made every hair on his body rise.

"Because of him."

"He's broken free."

"And he's looking for us."

"He thinks he owns us." They growled in unison.

"Who does?" Professor X cut into their monologue, even though they all guessed the correct name in advance.

Three voices uttered the very same name.

"Vlad."

Beast frowned. "He's in the VOID, under lock and key," he tried his luck.

"Not anymore."

At that moment, the phone rang, making the X-Men feel as if they were in a low-budget horror movie. Jean picked up the cordless device with her TK and handed it over to Xavier so he could read who's calling. A hidden number.

The Professor answered the phone, but before he could actually say something, the man on the other end spoke first. "Xavier, this is Fury."

"Yes, colonel?" His voice didn't give away anything of what was happening in the office. Any caller would have thought he interrupted a late-night tea or a story hour. Any other than Nick Fury, that is.

"I've just got an echo from the VOID, Charles. Your new pal, Dargolja, went AWOL and took one of the guards as a take-away. Just want to warn you - he might come after your people next."

"Thank you for the advanced warning. If we happen to find him, we'll surely send him back to you."

"Understood. Fury - out."

Six sharp fangs gleamed in the low light as the vampires smiled. "We told you so."

Suddenly there came a gentle tap. Then the heavy oaken door slowly opened and Jubilee entered the office. "Professor? Um... Remy... He's awake."

"Perfect!" the vampires let out, their eyes practically shining with the unnatural hunger that drove them forward.

Jubilee flinched, only then taking note of the vampires' presence. She froze in place like a deer caught in headlights.

The X-Men stood up in alert, because her action didn't go unanswered. Wolverine also took interest in the newcomer.

Jubilee just stood there, petrified. The three former X-Men towered before her, Logan taking lead. The man glared at her and for just a split second, it seemed as if there were two different beings in his head fighting for dominance. But that moment was lost too soon for the girl to actually understand it. The vampire's eyes were once again cold as ice, but now tainted with fury, disgust... and just barely notable trace of fear. He growled, baring his teeth at Jubilee. "Out of the way!"

But the girl wasn't able to move. She just stared at what used to be 'her big brother' and two fellow X-Women. She came to her senses a second too late.

Wolverine lashed out as if to drive away some insect and hit her in the cheek with the back of his hand, shoving her aside. After that, he immediately left the room, followed by both his companions.

Lockheed let out a roar and leapt forward to bite Wolverine's kneecaps off, friend or not. Beast and Cyclops jumped up to follow them, but Xavier stopped them as soon as he made certain Jubilee is still in one piece. Hank snarled, furious with the other man. Cyclops, feeling about the same, helped the girl get up from the floor.

_**"Rogue, keep an eye on them, please."**_ Then, Charles contacted a few other teammembers to give them further instructions. And he made sure they won't run into the blood-thirsty colleagues along the way.

Rogue nodded and followed the trio out.

Just as the doors closed behind them, Scott completely forgot his place and snapped at Xavier. "Professor, with all respect, you can't be serious! You're gonna let them go like that?"

"I hate to say this, Charles, but I'm with the young man on this one," Beast said while they both helped Jubilee take a seat. Even Lockheed seemed to agree.

"Of course I don't," the headmaster shook his head.

"Well, it looks that way!" Cyclops grumbled before he could stop himself. "Are you alright, Jubilee?"

The young mutant perked up a little. "I see... stars... but yeah. I guess so," she nodded and rubbed her jaw.

The blue lion shook his mane. "You are quite lucky not to have your mandible shattered, young lady. Few can take a hit like that from Wolverine."

"Because it simply wasn't 'a hit like that', Henry," Xavier interrupted while inspecting the broken window frame with curiosity. "Logan was trying to contact me, but something stopped him. Even so, I learned what I needed. We haven't lost him. At least not completely."

Scott was confused. "So he's on our side?"

"No. But he's fighting to be."

Before anyone could reply to that, the doors opened again and Shadowcat with a laptop at hand, Iceman and Nightcrawler came in.

Hank took the glasses from his nose, rubbed them clean with his handkerchief and put them in his chest pocket. "Charles, do you really consider it wise to leave Anna alone with them?"

Scott let out a bitter laugh. "Leaving anyone else alone with them is a risk, Hank. I know what they can do - they'll twist you around their finger before you get to say 'Eureka'."

The lion shook his mane in discontent and folded his paws. "I just hope this option doesn't turn out to be the bigger of two evils."

xXx

The Institute was dark and silent. But even so, all four of them could sense every detail the structure was hiding in its walls. They felt the life energy of the studens, who slept in their rooms oblivious to the threat, even the steady heartbeat of the bear-sized Russian silently guarding the stairway leading to the dormitories. From the experience rooting in what they now considered their past existence, they knew that if they wanted to go through him, they'd have to prepare for one tough brawl.

So they just passed along. Their primary target lied elsewhere. Like three ghosts and their sentinel, they came to the lifts and through them, entered the underground floor. The cold metallic walls granted them their usual stern welcome. But only Rogue and Jean could see their reflection on the silvery surface.

As soon as they entered the infirmary, Wolverine let out a menacing growl. He needed barely five seconds and a few quick moves to break the straps and set his colleague free. With Storm, they used their newly-gained powers and passed a portion of their own energy on to Remy.

Gambit stood up, shrugged off the stiffness and watched with interest as the burnmarks on his arm closed and disappeared. He looked around and when he saw Rogue, he gave her a look of a hurt Lockheed.

Anna folded her arms. "Don't even try that, sugar, you started it."

The four exchanged glances, as if discussing the situation without words. Rogue caught a glimpse of their decision, but not the discussion itself. That was enough for her to understand they mean her no harm. She was of no interest. They intended to go and get rid of their maker.

But Rogue stood in their way. "Not so fast."

The white-haired mutant in front of her frowned, almost causing the younger woman to back off. Storm always knew how to gain respect from everyone she came across. For some reason, blood red eyes and half-inch fangs didn't affect that ability.

It cost Rogue all her will to stay in one place, but when she looked over to Remy, she remembered why she was doing all that. And she could be quite a hard head herself when it came down to it.

The powers she drained from Remy were fading, but they were still strong enough for her to be able to at least hold them off for a while. She just had to hope the while would be worth it.

"Outta the way," Gambit growled.

"Stand aside," Storm joined him, even though her tone was a bit more conciliatory.

"Forget it," she raised her chin in defiance and stood her ground, expecting an attack that had to come.

Gambit lashed out, but thanks to the still-present bond, she could sense his move in advance. She caught his wrist and twisted his arm. There was a sick cracking noise and the vampire howled in pain.

Rogue bit her lip. She didn't want to hurt him, but she wasn't able to appropriately guess her own strength at the moment. And since they couldn't count on their manipulative abilities, the outcome was in her favor. She turned her partner around like a ballerina on a string and threw him in Jean's arms.

The four vampires growled in unison and Remy fixed his wrist back in place. They appeared to be shaken, but that illusion only lasted a second. Then, the shock was overcome by anger. They leapt at her and pushed her back into the corridor. She didn't waste time trying to hit them back, she just kept her defensive stance and continued to withdraw. Just a few feet now. Timing was the essense here.

Three, two, one...

_**"Professor, now!"**_ She had to hope they wouldn't catch the glimpse of her intensions until too late. A fraction of a second later, she flinched, just in time to see an energy wall powering up between them.

xXx

Charles Xavier let out a sigh of relief. This gambit was a bit too close to failing.

"Charles, I have a reason to believe the things are getting out of your hands," the blue lion shook his head and sat back in his chair, trying to smoothen bristled fur.

The Professor let the comment go unanswered, he had neither time nor patience for an argument. "Kitty? Go ahead."

The young mutant nodded and shook the computer mouse to get rid of a screensaver. "The SHIELD database granted me all the intel we need. That Vlad guy is bad news in at least five countries." She turned on a small built-in projector and the office wall came to life with the image of a computer file branded with their opponent's profile photo. "Good news is that we have, like, a complete summary of what he can and can't do. Quite a list."

Scott's eyes went wide open under the visor. "That's more than all of us together. Astral projection, limited telepathy, animal telepathy, regeneration, necromancy of unknown level, defying gravity..."

"And a lovely bonus, passing the mutation to other subjects," Hank added for him. "I wonder if he actually does even classify as a mutant. Really quite an impressive list."

"I'd be more impressed if he weren't out for our hides. Whoa. He's got more voo-doo than that crazy old crone back in July," Jubilee shook her head in disbelief.

"You mean The Fox? I guess they can start a super-powered club together," Iceman smirked.

"And what's the bad news?" Scott interrupted the starting debate about past battles.

"He's broken out of VOID," Kitty shrugged.

"And besides that?"

"Not good enough for you? Alright, besides that - the only thing that looks like it could stop him is loosing his powers. And dying."

xXx

The white-haired mutant angrilly smashed her fist against the energy barrier of the cell, but it didn't help their situation any bit at all. Instead, she almost ended up thrown against the wall.

"Fools!"

"Let us go!"

"You don't know what you're doing!"

Rogue folded her arms. "We'll manage. Now stay where you are, before we find a way to get you outta that mess."

"You can't stop him."

"He's out of your league."

"You weren't outta our league, and there's four of you," Anna smirked and leaned against the wall. She was quite curious about what kind of argument the vampires would use against that.

But they just looked skywards instead, as if they could see through all the layers of steel and armored concrete. They bared their fangs.

"Too late."

"He's here."

A violent impact rocked the Institute down to its very foundations.

**To be continued...**

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**I'm terribly sorry for the prolonged silence... other stuff got in my way. But thanks a ton to all who reviewed the last chapter! I hope my English is getting better :)**

**I'm not sure when I could get to translating another chapter. It's damn long. And the fifth one is even longer **


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